Cowbit (locally pronounced Cubbit) is a village and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England.[1] The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,220.[2] It is situated 3 miles (5 km) south from Spalding and 5 miles (8 km) north from Crowland.
Cowbit Grade I listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Mary.[3] The church was built on a small scale in the 14th century by Prior de Moulton of Spalding. A chancel and Perpendicular tower were added by Bishop Russell of Lincoln in 1487. Restoration was carried out in 1882.[4] A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1842, and rebuilt in 1861.[5] To the south, on the road to the hamlet of Peak Hill, is a stone named after St Guthlac, being a boundary marker for the earlier lands of Crowland Abbey.[5]
The village contains a Grade II listed early 19th-century mill,[6] a Church of England primary school, public play area, village hall, a garage, and a village store.
On 16 October 2011 work was completed on a new bypass for the A1073,[7] which previously ran through the village. This new route has been re-designated to form part of the A16.
Cowbit previously had a railway station on Spalding to March line; the line is no longer in use.
Cowbit Wash lies to the west of the village, extends 8 miles (13 km) from north to south, and is nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) broad.[5] Mainly arable land, it is a flood plain for the navigable River Welland, separated from Cowbit by an earth bank, Barrier Bank, that carries an unclassified road, the former A1073.[8] Previously Welland overflow regularly flooded the Wash, the water freezing-over during winter allowing for ice skating and skating championships. A relief channel (Coronation Channel) for the Welland at Spalding made Cowbit Wash obsolete for many decades following its construction but during the winter of 2023-24 following months of heavy rainfall and Storm Henk the River Welland breached its banks near Crowland subsequently flooding the wash for the very first time since 1947.
